The present invention relates to furniture glides, and more particularly to swiveling furniture glides for the leg of an article of furniture.
Furniture glides are well known for fixation to the leg of an article of furniture to protect the end portion of the leg from damage, and further, to protect a floor surface from damage as a result of the furniture leg.
The conventional furniture glide typically employs a plastic bottom surface for contact with the floor to allow sliding of the furniture on a floor surface without excessive gouging or scratching of that floor surface. Furthermore, the conventional furniture glide spreads the mass of the furniture and any additional mass, for example, a person sitting in a chair, over a larger surface area to prevent denting or impression into the floor surface. Some furniture glides further employ a swiveling mechanism to allow the bottom of the glide to rest flat on a floor surface for varying angles of the furniture leg. The swiveling mechanism compensates for slight variations in the lengths of the legs of furniture, variations in the flatness of the floor surface, and splay in the legs of the article of furniture.
In conventional furniture glides, the sliding surface for contacting the floor is of a material specifically chosen for surface on which the furniture glide will rest. Typical base element materials include steel (usually selected for carpeted floors), hard plastics such as nylon or polyethylene (typically selected for tile floors and older vinyl flooring products containing asbestos), or soft plastics (typically selected for vinyl flooring products that do not contain asbestos and wood floors). Accordingly, certain furniture may not be suitable for use in certain locations due to incompatibilities between the materials of the flooring of the location and the glide installed on the furniture. In addition, the sliding surfaces composed of soft materials are subject to wear.